livingdwfandomcom-20200214-history
354:4 -- Fetching the timepiece
The party sets out to find a means to bring destruction to the shadow lords. Starting in Dis, they are given a mission by the inevetables: to retreive the timepiece of eternity, the heartbeat of the universe, from the void. Given help from the gods to survive the void, they extract the item from a tower filled with hundreds of dread lords and The Shadow itself. Its return to Dis saves that realm from disintegration. Notable Lore * Shadow lords (the like of which there are 5 in Mithrasia) exist in the hundreds in their shadow plane, ruled over by THE SHADOW, who is if not a primus deity on level with one in power and importance. Hedwig speculates that The Shadow is the personification, avatar, or deification of the void from which the universe began and to which it will eventually return; a being of power and importance equal to Ganev and Frya . *The inevitable (s) are supposed to be neutral but are actually able to interfere where they want. *Shadows "killed" (as opposed to banished) in most planes are simply discorporated, and can slowly reform. If they are killed in their own plane (sometimes referred to as the void), they appear to die permanently. *Many planes have been decimated by the shadows before, it appears to be a fundamental part of their nature *It seems logical that something is therefore preventing most of the shadows from leaving the void and ripping through other realms as they please. *True magic can be learned by sufficiently advanced wizards 10 wizards may reclass as a level 1 mage which allows freeform magic. Notable [[Magical Items|Loot] *Void rings which grant the wearer immunity to cold fields were given to each player *Xeno has been granted a new arm *Light blue skull (Hedwig, cures mental affliction) * Asha's report I convinced the Governor (who is a very lovely person, and not to be crossed, ever, but also very forgiving of small omissions of truth in the interest of helping Whitmouth, I hope) to release Xeno on the condition that he helped us defeat a Dread Lord, which he did. In fact, he killed one—as did I. We set off from Whitmouth along with Hedwig, Wednesday and Seraphine, then we travelled to Dis with the help of Xeno to find weapons to help us defeat the Dread Lords. Not long after we appeared, Seraphine was summoned by her god, the Inevitable, and ordered to go to the Void and retrieve the Timepiece of Inevitability, without which Dis was falling into the Void. Some of the Sultana’s guards told us that there was a Summit which all of the gods were attending, including the Inevitable and the Shadow. At Draco’s Emporium we bought some useful items (thanks to Xeno’s apparently endless supplies of both coins and apathy towards money). We then headed towards the Sultana’s Palace, where the wizards and cleric got licenses to use magic. They then, foolishly, requested to enter the Summit, where Seraphine and Xeno blabbed about our mission to go to the Void. The Shadow immediately left, declaring the Summit to be over—it turned out that the entire Summit, all of the gods from every plane of existence, was all in the interest of distracting the Shadow while we entered the Void to retrieve the Timepiece of Inevitability. Since we had foolishly alerted the Shadow to the plan, we had no choice but to make all haste to get there before the Shadow could make too many preparations for our arrival. The Inevitable and the Sultana gave us each a Void Ring which would make us immune to the chilling effect of the void and the Shadow (unless a Shadow creature attacked us directly, as we found out). Xeno opened a way into the void for us, but was unable to recall the spell to get us home again. After fighting a Shadow hunting party, Xeno turned into a dragon and carried us to a Shadow Citadel similar to the one in the Southern Mountains, which lay in the centre of a Shadowy mimicry of Dis. He turned into a smaller dragon, approximately the size of a small shoe, and I broke through the wall of the tower. Xeno made a light which promptly flickered out—leaving us with only the briefest glimpse of the inside of the tower, which was ringed with at least five hundred Dread Lords. We were frightened by what we saw, but nevertheless the others headed upwards to where they could sense the Timepiece of Inevitability. Meanwhile, I was guided downwards by Ashosh, to where the Ash-heart’s Spear lay on the throne of a Dread Lord at least five times the size of any other. With astounding amounts of luck, I managed to retrieve the spear, and Wednesday levitated me to the top of the tower where we fought two Dread Lords who were guarding the Timepiece. The Dread Lords were tangible here, which made them a little easier to fight. Xeno dispatched one of them, and I slayed the other, and then the three wizards teleported us back to Dis. The Inevitable rewarded us by allowing us to keep the five Void Rings, and he also regrew Xeno’s missing arm. Wednesday's report A stunning young woman with long curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes darts into the tavern as if hoping not to be seen entering by anyone outside. She introduces herself as Wednesday and listens avidly to any tales adventurers are telling. She seems a little unsure of whether the beer is actually suitable for consumption but livens up when she starts to tell her tale of how she, Xeno, Asha, Hedwig and Seraphine killed two Dread Lords! The tale is not exactly told in chronological order and sometimes veers off into seemingly inconsequential tangents but you can piece it together. (Note Asha’s report covers this is a far more coherent fashion). The brave party set out to Dis to go shopping before heading off to kill a Dread Lord and a very nice celestial dragon sold us some magical trinkets. Then we decided to help the Inevitable by recovering their Timepiece of Inevitability, which they had somehow misplaced in The Void and we went to tell them that we would be most happy to help them with their little problem if they gave us some protection from the void. There was a conclave in session which Hedwig got us into, all the gods of all the planes were there including The Shadow. What we didn't know was that this was supposed to be a secret plan and all the gods were trying to distract The Shadow while we snuck into The Void and we pretty much had just told him we were coming. The Inevitable gave us boring looking rings to protect us from the cold of The Void and Xeno shadow walked us there right away. Our attempt to pretend to be shadow cultists did not go well as we were immediately attacked by dark hounds, knights and a dragon. Everything was in shades of black and frozen, devoid of life. Asha made short work of the foes on the ground and Xeno turned into a really pretty celestial dragon, who convinced the other dragon to retreat. We travelled on Xeno’s back at full speed towards the dark tower that we suspected the timepiece was in. The platforms of the tower were trapped so Xeno made himself into a tiny dragon and we snuck in a newly created window. The inside of the tower was completely black, however the brief light of a fireball revealed our situation. Platforms jutted out of the walls in the hollow tower and on each platform was a throne, descending down to a single throne that was much larger than the others. On each of the 500 thrones sat a Dread Lord and in the large throne sat The Shadow. While this may have been a good time to Panic. We did not. Instead we pretty much ran in different directions. Seraphine lit the tower with her new flaming sword as she held the platform and Asha slid down the side of the tower straight into the midst of the shadows, eventually stealing a spear from The Shadow’s own throne. The rest of us eventually made it to the top of the tower where two Dread Lords stood defending the timepiece, there was a messy fight where Xeno and Asha (once she was levitated up to us) killed the two Dread Lords (I helped), but not before they did significant damage to the party. Just in time however the clever Hedwig had prepared a ritual of transportation, which transported us back to Dis before the rest of the Dread Lords could “extinguish our light”. We saved Dis, Xeno got his arm back and I got more jewellery. Seraphine's report Walking into The Wyvern's Rest you hear sounds of celebration, as you approach the source you see an enthralled crowd and a familiar Cleric with skin like the starry sky in their midst. "Free drinks for all who will listen to my tale of victory over the Dread Lords of Shadows!" She cries, thrusting a jug of ale into the air, her face shining with excitement. Settling down, she pours herself a glass as she tells her tale. Arriving in Dis we were surprised to see buildings falling upside down, I had no time to ponder this as I was summoned by my deity before a summit of gods. Dis would fall into the Void unless the Time Piece of The Inevitables was retrieved from the Void. Mithrasia would fall to the Shadow but would be the last to do so if the time piece was returned. My orders given, I was teleported back to the party where it was agreed we would enter the Void. First stop was Draco's Magical Imporium where we got some nice magical items which will surely aid us in our fight against the Shadows thanks to Xeno's generosity. Next we obtained some magical lisences for the Wizards in our party, Xeno, Hedwig and Wednesday and a divine liscense for myself. Arriving back at the summit this time with my party we informed them of our decision and acidently alerted the Shadow to it as well. Turns out the summit was a distraction for the Shadow while we did our work however now that the gig was up it had returned to the Void to prepare for our arrival. The Inevitable gave us magic rings to protect as from the cold of the Shadows then we made haste into the Void courtesy of Xeno's Shadow Walk spell. We were set upon by a Shadow hunting party, as I dispatched a Shadow Knight, I inadvertently attracted a Shadow Dragon with the light of my new holy sword. Xeno in Celestial Dragon form was thankfully able to convince us to leave it alone and we were able to finish off the rest of the hunting party before they could summon help. We flew to the ice tower where the Time Piece of Inevitability was residing in, on Xeno's back, however he had not yet gained full control of his Celestial Dragon magic and upon landing became a Dragon no bigger than a cat. Entering the tower we headed downwards on Asha's insistance and we were greeted with a sight nightmares are made of. In a huge room 500 thrones formed a circle, each one containing a Dread Lord and in a dais in the center upon a huge throne, sat a massive Dread Lord at least five times bigger than the rest. Realizing they had seen us we scattered, Asha sliding down a slippery icy ramp slipping through the legs of the Shadow Lords while the rest of headed upwards. Plunged into pitch black darkness I let the light from my sword guide me as it's holy fire cut through the ice before me like butter. The Wizards had fireballed their way to the top of the tower where the Time Piece of Inevitability sat, it was unfortunately guarded by two Dread Lords. Up ahead fire and light blazed and Dread Lords went flying, here in this realm their bodies are solid making it easier to hurt them. These Wizards are truly amazing, together they worked on a ritual as a means of escape all while casting fireballs and light beams. Both Asha and Wednesday got grabbed by Dread Lords at one point but just barely managed to escape with their lives thanks to the actions of their comrades who came to their aid. While this was going on a made another attempt at climbing only this time the persistant shadowy bastard caught me and tried to crush me in his grip. By some miracle I managed to free my sword forcing it to drop me, I then kept the cursed monster at bay with the divine light from my sword. Upstairs Xeno finished off one Dread Lord with a fireball while Asha with the holy fury of Ashosh, Ash-Heart and his spear killed the second one. The ritual was complete and the portal was opening but the tower beneath us was crumbling away and I'm stuck down below! Once again I sped up the rope but not fast enough, only halfway up I realized the Dread Lord was gaining on me, in a last desparate effort the others pull me to safety. Quickly we went through the portal, arriving on the steps of the palace to two dead Dread Lords and the Time Piece of Inevitability. As the corpses of the Dread Lords disappeared the Inevitable reappeared to claim the Time Piece of Inevitability, as the hand on the clock moved, the buildings of Dis were restored before our very eyes. True to it's word the Inevitable gave us it's blessing, restored Xeno's arms and let us keep the rings it had gifted us. Having done what my deity asked of me, it has agreed to lend me it's power in my fight against the Shadows in additon to protection from them. It seems even the Inevitability is against the Shadow and this is reason enough for me to serve them. "Today we had a victory over the Shadows albeit a small one." Seraphine smiles as she raises her glass. "The war has not yet been won but at least now we have a means to fight the Dread Lords of Shadow. They will pay dearly for their crimes, but that is for another day. For now we celebrate!" She raises her glass to the cheers that fill the tavern and drinks into the night, happy in the knowledge that she has redeemed herself Hedwig's report Dear Professor Starswirl, I hope you are well. I went on a terrible adventure and no matter how many ways I categorise the things that happened in it, I don’t feel any better. I liked the other one much more. (Have you reviewed my paper yet? I’ve included the new updated appendix at the end of this letter. I’m pretty sure there’s a 67% chance they’ll name the beetle after me). I made a list of everything that happened in order of likelihood of obliterating my mind and body. 8. Leaving the library. 7. Sightseeing in dis without reading the laws of the realm (I have acquired volume one of the pocket edition for our library, it is approximately the size of Filanel’s List of Taxonomy Exceptions, for an idea of volume). 6. Accepting unusual skulls from dragons. 5. Trying to ride a shadow horse. 4. Going on suicide missions anyway, after the cleric accidentally tells The Shadow our plan. 3. Dangling from a rope, from a flying carpet, above five hundred dread lords. 2. Being in the presence of The Shadow, the void, the nothingness to which the universe will eventually return. 1. Trying to decide what selection of pamphlets I can physically carry home from Dis. Then I tried to make myself feel better by making a list of nice things that happened. 1. Nothing in Draco’s shop tried to kill me, cursed me, poisoned me, or exploded. This made me homesick. 2. Xeno was very kind and bought us expensive things. This only goes to show that Mithrasia is an academic dead end where there’s nothing to spend research grants on. 3. We found supporting evidence that shadow lords can be destroyed if killed on their home plane, which highlights the depressing reality of how un-killable they are everywhere that matters ie. my library. 4. Some of the magic users here are actually quite talented. 5.I learned a lot of interesting lore, which almost makes up for the sleeping I’m no longer doing. Then I made a list of all the lists I could make that might make me feel better. That didn’t help either. If you could send me some supplies of crystal-grown chamomile and poppy I would be eternally grateful. Yours, Hedwig Gudmansdottir (apprentice). Xeno's Report Xeno killed a dread lord, also is now a better wizard than everyone else also I have my arm back. The End Category:Actual Play Category:Shadows Category:Dis Category:The Shadow Category:Dread Lord Category:Shadow Lord